“As the leading national organization for LGBT students and campus groups, Campus Pride is pleased Newsweek relied on our expertise, resources and our nationally acclaimed online LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (http://www.CampusPrideIndex.org) for its ranking of its “Top 25 Gay Friendly Colleges for 2011,” said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director/founder. “The Index is a valuable research tool for national benchmarking on LGBT policies, programs and practices. Of course, its free to everyone online — prospective students, families as well as colleges and universities — its even accessible for professional news sources like Newsweek.”

As stated on the Newsweek’s site: To compile the list of the campuses that are the most accepting and open-minded of LGBT students and supporters, we first turned to , a leading metric of how inclusive colleges campuses are of LGBT and Ally people. As well, we considered whether colleges have a LGBT campus center, and College Prowler survey data revealing how students rate the diversity and degree of acceptance for each campus.

Windmeyer notes that Campus Pride was not aware Newsweek was utilizing the Index as part of its methodology until the Top 25 list was released by Newsweek recently. Still Windmeyer states, “It’s a good thing… and at least Newsweek relied on our professional expertise and the online index to drive its rankings. The more attention we can have toward the need to create LGBT acceptance and safer, more welcoming campuses at colleges and universities, all the better for our LGBT youth.”

Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) for student leaders and campus organizations working to create safer, more LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. It exists to give “voice and action” in building future LGBT and ally leaders. More info online at www.campuspride.org.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS...

My experience at Camp Pride provided me with a large network of amazing individuals who are already doing the work I aspire to do, so Camp Pride provided me with mentors, friends, and a great support system as I continue to walk in my purpose.